Heavy rains and floods not only in Europe. China, Vietnam and Nigeria suffered

Shanghai, China's financial center, has been paralyzed. Typhoon Bebinca is raging there, the strongest in more than seven decades. “It's hard to travel on a day like this. You have to be very careful because the wind can blow trees down. You can get crushed,” says Xie, a resident of the city.

In the city of 25 million, nearly 1,500 flights were canceled at both airports. Nearly 600 passenger trains were suspended. Winds in the eye of the storm reached 150 kilometers per hour. State media also reported that dozens of workers and residents in Suzhou, a city west of Shanghai, had been moved to temporary shelters. The typhoon is now moving inland.

More than 1,400 flights from the city's two airports and more than 570 passenger trains have been canceled since the evening of September 15, disrupting travel plans for many for the Mid-Autumn Festival, a three-day public holiday in China.

Last week, another supercyclone, Yagi, caused massive destruction in Hainan Province. The extreme weather is already openly criticizing China's economy. “The environment at home and abroad has become more complex and demanding. At the same time, the continued rise in temperature and natural disasters, including heavy rain and floods, are affecting economic activity,” said Liu Aihua, a spokeswoman for the China Bureau of Statistics.

Yagi killed nearly 300 people in neighboring Vietnam, causing widespread flooding and landslides. Damages were estimated at more than $1.5 billion, and could only get worse.

“We haven't had a chance to study Typhoon Yagi in detail yet, but there's a pattern to it. Typhoons and cyclones bring more rain as they make landfall. That's because warmer air can hold more moisture. So as the climate warms, typhoons and cyclones accumulate more water,” explains climate scientist Nadia Bloemendall.

Yagi also reached Burma, which is ravaged by civil war. The death toll there rose to 71 on September 16, with another 80 people missing. Flooding has destroyed several dams, monasteries and over 650,000 homes in Burma.

In Bangladesh, the situation is equally dramatic. “170 families have found shelter in this school. The needs are enormous. There are many women and girls here. When they fled, they usually took nothing with them, all they have is the clothes on their backs,” says Murshida Akhter from the United Nations Population Fund.

In total, more than half a million people have been displaced due to flooding caused by relentless monsoon rains and swollen rivers.

“People are giving us water because we need it, and they are giving us food. But even though we have food, I still worry. My husband can't work anymore. How will I be able to afford the things we need?” says Nurnahar Begum, a displaced woman.

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In West Africa, in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, 300 prisoners escaped from prisons due to flooding. In the zoo, 80 percent of the animals died, mainly wild ones such as lions, crocodiles, buffaloes, ostriches. Those that survived and escaped can be dangerous.

Currently, up to 300,000 people live in camps for internally displaced people. “We don't know if we'll be able to stay here. We need special permission from the government. For now, I have to go out and find food for my family,” says Yagambo, a displaced resident of Nigeria.

In the Bakassi camp, children can be seen scraping leftovers from pots. Drinking water is very hard to come by. “People in the camp are struggling and need help. The government is helping, but it's not enough. There are thousands of women, children, sick people. There are not toilets everywhere,” says Waziri, a displaced man.

Losses due to natural disasters worldwide in the first half of this year alone were estimated at $120 billion. Last year, it was $280 billion.